


Strings of Ice

by twosetsymphony



Category: Breddy, TwoSet, Twosetviolin, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: 1900s AU, 1912, AU, Alternate Universe, Cold, Fluff and Angst, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I'm sorry they die, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Plot, RMS Titanic, Romance, There's A Tag For That, im not funny, there's fluff too, this is kinda trash lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:40:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27058108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twosetsymphony/pseuds/twosetsymphony
Summary: What if Brett and Eddy happened to be two of the eight band members aboard the Titanic?
Relationships: Brett Yang & Eddy Chen, Brett Yang/ Eddy Chen, Eddy Chen & Brett Yang, Eddy Chen/Brett Yang
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Strings of Ice

**Author's Note:**

> (I know the original band members were second class but I wanted them to have a fancy room don't come for me)  
>  more notes at the end  
>  (srry if it sucks lol)

January 7th, 1912

Brett ran through the early morning, snowy streets of London. In his hand he held a very important letter. One that would change his and Eddy’s life for good. He ran as fast as his feet would carry him until he came to the steps of the small flat they shared. He fumbled with his keys, his hands nearly frozen but he was too excited to notice.   
Once he had made his way inside, he didn’t even stop to take off his scarf or coat just his shoes. Instead he ran straight up the stairs to their shared bedroom. 

“Eddy! Eddy! Wake Up!” Brett nudged the sleeping man urgently.   
He only began to budge once Brett was fully bouncing on the bed beside him. 

“What? What is it darling? Do you know how early it is?” The taller man questioned as he sat up, waving his hand through his hair. 

Brett immediately plopped down beside Eddy. 

“Here! Read this!” He demanded excitedly, shoving the letter in front of the tired man's face.

“What is it? Why are you covered in snow?” He asked while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

“ Nevermind the snow! Just read it! Here, your glasses!” Brett set the letter in Eddys lap whilst reaching over him to grab his glasses from the nightstand. 

After handing them to Eddy, Brett sat on the edge of the bed taking off his snowy garments before sitting back up against the headboard . Anticipation rattled through his chilled bones. 

Eddy placed his glasses behind his ears and began to read. He muttered a few words aloud, “Congratulations”, “First class”, “April 10th.” 

Once he had finished reading, Eddy looked back at Brett with equal excitement.

“Oh My God! We were chosen!” He spoke as he turned to grab Brett’s arms.

“It’s true my love! We will be aboard the Titanic! Two members of an eight person band!’ Brett stated back, still full of excitement.

“First class accomodation!’ Eddy replied, standing up to grab his violin. 

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Brett asked as he lay on his back looking towards the ceiling.

“ A seven day voyage to New York City! I couldn’t think of anything more exciting!” He answered his own question.

“The opportunity to play this for a whole group of first class citizens,” Eddy said as he started playing a part of ‘Le Streghe’ by Paganin, “I couldn’t think of anything more grand!” He continued playing, even dancing a little. 

Brett sat up and started to clap to the rhythm. 

When he finished, he took a big bow “Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, thank you. If you’d please consider making a small and charitable donation it would be greatly appreciated. Oh! Thank you madame.”

Brett laughed at Eddy’s comical charade before laying back down. 

“Construction should finish by the end of March. Which means we should set sail within the first two weeks of April. The ship will depart out of Southampton. How wonderful!” He said as he watched his spouse put his violin away. 

“ Indeed, my love,” Eddy replied as he placed a chaste kiss to Bretts lips before climbing back into the warm bed, “It will be the adventure of a lifetime.” He leaned over and wrapped his arms around the shorter man and placed their foreheads together. They stayed like that for a few minutes,lost in one another gaze, imagining what it would like to dine among the wealthy or see New York for the first time. 

Eddy spoke up first,   
“What about the other members of our band? Who are they? What pieces do we need to learn?”

Brett jumped up, grabbing the letter again before reading, “Wallace Hartley, from Lancashire, he is the bandmaster, a violinist like us! Then there is Theodore Brailey, he’s the pianist…”

That’s how they spent the rest of that fateful morning in January. Full of excitement and wonder. Practice too of course. 

You see, Brett and Eddy were musicians. A violinists duo to be exact. Oh, and they were in love. They had been ever since they met at Oxford 4 years prior. But no one could know that as it was very much illegal in England and would be for many more years. So, to the outside world, they were just best friends. Best friends who weren’t looking to marry because they were too focused on their career. They were young members of the Amalgamated British Musicians Union, so they weren’t exactly super poor, but they weren’t the wealthiest either. Which is why neither of them had very high hopes when they auditioned to play together on the Titanic’s maiden voyage. They assumed it would go to the more wealthy and experienced musicians. But as it turns out, the eldest member of the band was a 40 year old Cellist named Percy Taylor.   
The band got along extremely well. In the few practice sessions they had before the ship set sail, they were already friends. Most of them were in their twenties and all were equally filled with musical passion and excitement. 

April 10th, 1912 10:30am.

“C’mon Brett, it’s right there!” Eddy exclaimed, rushing his lover.

When Brett caught up to him, both men dropped their luggage and stood in awe. In front of them was The RMS Titanic. It stood as long as an 80 story building and as tall as a 17 story one. It was a wondrous sight to take in. Crowds of people rushed to board the ship and begin their new lives, cranes lifted cars onto the bow of the ship, families rapidly waved goodbye to their loved ones. It was amazing. 

“Let's start this adventure,” Eddy said, picking up his suitcase and grabbing Bretts arm to lead them to the first class registry line. 

It was another hour before they had boarded the ship and made their way to their room on the C deck. 

At noon, the Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage. 

A few hours passed and the two had spoken to the musical director, explored some of the rooms, like the reading room and the lounge and seemed settled. 

“It is so splendid!” Brett said as he sat on the edge of the bed. “I wonder what we did in our past life to be this blessed!”

Brett and Eddy had been assigned to one room. Actually, all the band members were assigned two to a room. To them it made sense, why would they waste eight first class bedrooms on musicians? They were all overjoyed just to be there. 

“I’m not sure but this room is just fantastic!” Eddy exclaimed as he waltzed around taking in all of the decor, it was all very Louis XV inspired. 

Varnished oak paneling lined the walls, an elegant bed frame. Against the wall on the lower right end of the bed frame was a beautifully carved dressing table. Across the room was a white horsehair sofa and two cabriolet chairs forming around a beautiful walnut and glass coffee table which rested upon one of the most tasteful rugs Eddy had ever seen.  
To the corner of the room was a small archway,leading to their own private bathroom. Inside the tiled room was a marble-topped washstand with basin and of course a commode. There was no bathtub within their private bathroom, but neither of them minded. They could just go to one of the community washrooms down the hall and inform the stewardess that they would like a bath. 

“Precisely!” Brett exclaimed back, getting up and wrapping his arms around the taller man,   
“And I’m so glad that I get to experience it with you.”

Eddy leaned into the other man’s embrace. It was all a dream.   
“As am I.” he replied back. 

Brett broke his embrace. Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out a pocket watch. 

“Ah, it is 4:15 my dear,” he said. “That gives us relatively an hour to get ready.”

“Ready? For what?” Eddy questioned. 

“Did excitement clog your ears? The ship will be docking in France, Cherbourg to be exact at around 6:30 to pick up more passengers. The band is supposed to be playing near the grand staircase to greet them. Then we must play dinner and the lounge until 9:30 and we don’t look nearly fancy enough! So get to it! Put one of your suits I packed, product the daylights out of your hair, shave cleanly, and tune your violin!” Brett demanded with a hint of playfulness in his voice. 

“Oh, you only wish you could make me,” Eddy smirked back, leaning down to kiss the shorter man. 

“Only in the loveliest of your dreams, my dear. Now go, ” Brett replied after breaking the kiss and pushing the man towards the washroom. 

“Yes sir.” Eddy replied, going to complete the tasks mentioned. 

The rest of their evening was filled with beautiful music. They played pieces from the French composers Saint Saens and Debussy, pieces from classical composers like Mozart or Schubert, they even played a few pieces from the recently deceased Mahler. 

People would stand and listen for a brief moment before returning to their luggage, and some listened intently as they dined. 

After their performances, many would clap or compliment them. The musicians were just happy that they would provide them with a lovely first evening. 

It was around midnight when Brett and Eddy decided to take a stroll along the promenade deck. They paused for a while, leaning against the railing they took in the sight of the Atlantic ocean. Since most everyone had retired for the evening, Eddy grabbed Brett’s hand.   
“It’s mesmerizing, isn’t it?” He asked softly.   
“It is, my love.” Eddy replied. 

Neither of them spoke after that. Instead, they took in the beauty of night ,of the stars, and of each other. 

It was a lovely first evening for all. 

April 11, 1912.

Today they did not have to wake up until 9. Only the pianist had to play at breakfast. String instruments that early in the morning were deemed untasteful by the captain and members of first class. They would however need to be present once the ship docked in Queenstown, Ireland to pick up more passengers. They would play lunch from 1 to 2 and dinner again from 6:30 to 8:15 and the lounge until 9:30. Dinner was actually served at 7, but they needed to already be playing whilst guests arrived. 

Stretching, Brett got out of bed, he would let Eddy sleep a few more minutes. He made his way to the wardrobe and grabbed a white button down, pair of green trousers, along with the matching vest and coat. He made his way to their bathroom and went about his business. Once he was dressed and shaved he went over to wake Eddy. 

Sitting next to his lover's legs he began to stroke his hair with his calloused fingers.   
“Rise and shine my love” He sing-songed.   
Eddy began to stir.  
“Oh, is that my Eddy? Has he returned back to me from the land of dreams?” Brett dotted fondly.   
Eddy grabbed Brett’s hand and brought it towards his lips.   
He placed a sweet kiss upon Bretts knuckles before mumbling, “Good morning my love.”   
“Ah good morning!” Brett said leaning his body down to kiss Eddy’s forehead before promptly pulling him into an upright position.   
“Time to get dressed!”   
So Eddy did just that. He took his time of course, there was no need to hurry. They had loads of time before they had to play.  
The two loved mornings like these, slow and sweet. 

“Don’t forget your tophat darling!” Eddy called to Brett as they began to make their way out the door to go to the dining room. 

“I hate these cursed things,” Brett replied, placing it on top of his head. 

After they played Breakfast, Eddy had noticed that in first class,women and children were often separate from men during leisure hours, only coming together at meal times. This was different from what he saw at home. Before he left for University, his family was always close. He and his sister often performed for their parents. It was a fond memory. Eddy thought about it as he played during lunch. 

The whole band had decided to eat lunch together. The food in first class was a little strange to the middle class members of the band, but it was tasty. Brett liked the corned ox tongue but he loved the grilled mutton chops. Lunch was filled with chatter and laughs about one of the lady’s funny hats. Once they had all finished eating, John Woodward, the cellist, spoke, “I hear there’s a swimming bath lads. Shall we go take a dip?” He invited the rest of the band. 

“I hear it’s 25 cents per ticket!” John Clarke, the bassist spoke. 

“I’d quite like to go!” Roger Bricoux exclaimed reaching into his coat pocket.   
“It seems we’ve got around 3 hours to be back here for dinner playing.”

“Sounds like enough time to me,” spoke Wallace Hartley, the bandmaster. 

“Theo? Percy? What about you lot?” Woodward asked, looking at Brett and Eddy. 

“I think it sounds splendid!” Brett spoke up. 

All right then it is set, let’s all meet up on the F deck!” Theo said, getting up to go back to his room. Percy followed. 

“Don’t forget to buy your ticket at the Enquiry Office!” Eddy called after them.

The swimming bath was wonderful. The hour that they got to spend there was lovely. The water was heated to the perfect temperature. Although they couldn’t afford to go back, It was absolutely worth the 50 cents for the two of them . 

They had floated around and soaked for a little bit before Percy spoke.   
“Boys I know we’ve all got on quite well over the past few months, but there was something I’ve been wondering.”

“Ask away,’ Eddy replied floating on his back.   
“Yeah what is it?” Came from John Clarke.

“Why do you play music?” 

“Because it seemed like the only thing I was good at,” Theodore answered.   
“Me too,” John Woodward replied. 

“I play because it was a wee bit easier than being a mechanic.” Wallace answered honestly.

“Because my father didn’t make it as a musician,” came from John Clarke.   
“I honestly don’t know why I play the bloody cello,” Roger said, earning a laugh from the rest of the members.

“What about you Brett? Eddy?” Percy asked. 

“I play because I think music is a gift that should be shared and enjoyed with others.” Eddy answered. 

“I agree with Eddy,” Brett started, “but music is one of my true passions in life, I wake up and I’m excited to do it. I could die playing my violin. It has been my voice so many times.”

“Agreed.” Percy replied sitting up. 

That was something all the members of the band could agree on and they did as they made their way out of the pool so that they could get ready for dinner.

The band's dinner performance went off without a hitch, everyone was calm and relaxed. The bath had done everyone good. 

Dinner afterwards was met with slightly too much liquor. Wallace had decided to treat everyone to a few rounds of tequila accompanied with the red wine served at dinner. 

The couple were slightly too tipsy, trying to find their room. This is how they ended up making out underneath one of the back stairwells of the ship. They only took a brief pause to continue the trek back to their room. 

“I saw your looks from across the table,” Brett said as Eddy unlocked the door to their room. 

Not answering, he grabbed Brett by the arm and pushed him against the inside of the door. 

“No talking.” Eddy said as he took Bretts coat off and plunged his lips into the shorter mans.

Eddy pried open Bretts mouth, their tongues clashed and moans filled the air. They can taste the alcohol on each other’s breath. Neither of them can pull away. 

It isn’t long until Eddy is lifting Brett up and placing him on the bed. 

Eddy took this time to remove his own top coat before lowering himself back onto Brett, kissing his neck. Hands were roaming as Brett spoke up  
“Shirt off, now please.” Brett panted out.   
“As you wish, my prince.” Eddy replied unbuttoning both his and Brett’s shirt. 

They continued kissing deeply, their bare chests touching.  
“Eddy please, I need you.”  
“Say no more,” Eddy whispered as he kissed Brett once more. 

That night, they played a symphony without their violins.

April 12th, 1912.

The events of the day had gone by as routine and as normal. They woke up, they dined, played through lunch, ate with the band, spent time until dinner, played dinner. 

It was after dinner, when Brett had gotten the idea. 

“Eddy?”   
“Hm,” he replied reading his book.  
“Have we been to the third class area of the ship?”  
“I don’t think we have love, why?” Eddy replied looking up.  
“Let’s go. They could use some music. I think we might fit in there more than here too.” Brett replied.  
“I think you might just be right.We won’t even have to wear our tophats!” Eddy retorted, standing up. 

So the pair made their way to the third class general room, just below the poop deck. 

When they arrived they saw men, women and children all mingling. They were laughing and playing. It definitely felt more like home than first class. They noticed someone was already playing the piano in the corner of the lounge. A young woman with blonde hair. She looked to be around the same age as the other two. Once she had finished playing a piece, Eddy approached her. 

“Excuse me miss,” he started, “that was a lovely performance.”  
“Oh , why thank you sir, but you mustn’t lie.” She replied blushing.   
“Nonsense,” Eddy continued, “Would you mind if me and my friend joined you tonight? We’re also musicians.” Eddy questioned with a polite and calm voice while pointing to Brett who held both their violin cases.   
“Oh that would be lovely!But, I don’t know many songs.” She replied looking down at her hands.   
Brett came up, “That’s okay! Just improvise a tune and we’ll follow you!” He said, trying to encourage the young lady.  
“Okay.” She agreed. 

So, Brett and Eddy took out their violins, tuned up and nodded towards the girl.   
Once she started playing Eddy closed his eyes and listened. It was much more lighthearted than the piece she had previously played. It wasn’t Hadyn or Bethoveen, but it was fun! Eddy swayed slightly as he glided his bow across the G-String. It was loud enough to catch people's attention, but Eddy was still in his own world as he began to play.  
Brett smiled at Eddy and closed his eyes, he knew to follow his lead.   
Together they played from the heart. Giving one another turns to lead and follow. Neither had noticed the crowd they had drawn, until a young girl probably in her early teens began clapping to the rhythm.   
Both musicians opened their eyes and smiled. They looked back toward the pianist and she was smiling too. Brett then decided to do a little twirl while playing, fully feeling the music. 

It was meant to be danced to. 

Eddy informed their audience of just that when he shouted, “Don’t just stand there, dance!”  
The girl grabbed who one could only guess to be her father and began to dance. Everyone else followed suit.  
The news of the commotion had even spread to second class, some coming to experience the party for themselves. 

So on that night, the third class lounge room was filled with laughter, dancing, and music.  
And Brett and Eddy, they played. 

April 13, 1912. 

By now, everyone was in a routine. Brett and Eddy would wake up at 8, spend time together until it was time to play lunch, spend time with the band until dinner, play dinner and eat. Return back to their room. Sleep. 

Today, Eddy wanted to do something different. So after they had finished their lunch performance he grabbed Brett’s wrist and began to run.  
“Where are we going?” Brett called out  
“Just follow me.”  
Eddy didn’t really know where he was going, he just wanted to explore and spend some alone time with his lover. 

That’s how they ended up in a cargo hold on the forward section of the ship.

“What are we doing here?” Brett asked in a hushed whisper.

“I wanted to spend some time with you,” Eddy replied. 

“Plus, look at this!” He stated as he unlatched a giant crate. 

There in front of both of their eyes was a shiny red automobile.

“Wow! I heard it was rumored to be down here but I didn’t think it would be true!” Eddy exclaimed.

“We’re going to get into trouble!” Brett replied nervously.

“Oh hush my love,” Eddy started as he climbed into the driver's seat of the car, “No one is down here, how will they know? Get in here, it looks fantastic!”

Brett sighed and listened to the younger man’s commands.   
He was right.   
It was fantastic. Brett had never seen an automobile this close.

“It’s amazing! I’ve never seen one this close!” Brett exclaimed to his lover.   
“I haven’t either!” Eddy replied, fidgeting around with the controls.  
Brett continued to look around in awe. 

“Hey,” Eddy said as he grabbed the underside of Brett’s chin, causing the shorter man to look at him. “One day, I’m going to buy us one of these things, okay? I mean it!”

Brett looked into Eddy’s eyes. “Okay my love, I’ll hold you to it.” He smiled as he leaned over to softly kiss Eddy. 

This sweet kiss turned into a very heated makeout session rather quickly. Top coats were soon disregarded. 

Somehow Brett ended up on top of Eddy’s lap. Things seemed like they were going to progress even further until a loud honk echoed through the room.

Their kiss broke quickly. 

“We’ve got to get out of here!” Brett exclaimed as he climbed off of Eddy’s lap.   
So they quickly grabbed their coats and hurried out of the car.   
They began running towards the nearest door.  
Right as they made their exit, they heard a voice call “Hey! Who is down here?”

They kept running until they made it to the ship's top deck. 

Slowing down they grabbed onto the ship’s railing. 

“Oh my god haha! It is just like our days in University” Eddy said, trying to catch his breath.  
“I remember! The old tree!” Brett replied leaning into Eddy's side. 

They stood in silence, for a few minutes catching their breath.   
“I can’t get over how amazing this is,” Brett said gesturing towards the vast ocean.   
“Who would’ve thought that we would be aboard the unsinkable, Aye?” Eddy replied.   
“Definitely not me.” Brett answered, taking his head off Eddy’s shoulder. 

After they played the dinner, the two decided to take a bath together.   
Of course it wasn’t easy to convince the Stewardess, but Eddy can be convincing when he needs to be. Whether or not they were a sibling duo trying to save money or gay lovers was none of her business. 

“I love you Eddy.” Brett said as he leaned against the taller man's shoulder.  
“I love you Brett.” 

They held each other in the bath filled with saltwater.   
They didn’t need to talk, just being in one another’s presence was enough. 

After their bath, they took another walk upon the top deck,   
They were looking out towards the vast ocean when Eddy took a quick glance around before leaning down to kiss Brett.   
It was a kiss full of love under the beautiful moonlight.  
That night, they listened to waves play. 

April 14, 1912.

The day had gone by normal. Playing at lunch and dinner. Sneaking a kiss here and there. Relaxing and practicing before bed. Falling asleep in each other's arms. 

It was around midnight when Brett heard a knock at their door. Eddy hardly stirred as he arose from the bed to see who it was.

As he opened the door, he saw it was the Bandleader Wallace Hartley. 

“Brett! Eddy! You need to wake up! Get dressed and grab your instruments. We need to go to the lounge!” He spoke, barging into the room before Brett could even muster out “Hello”.

“Why?” Brett replied already going to put his black trousers on.

“There’s been talk of an iceberg, hitting the ship. I didn’t feel nothing meself but other people are saying they did.” He spoke in a thick northern accent. “So the captain has sent us out to go play, calm the nerves of the people. EDDY GET YER ARSE UP!” He said as he threw a pillow onto the tall man. 

“I’m up, I’m up!” He said, jumping up and getting dressed. “Why am I up?”

“Iceberg, ship. Water is in one of the boiler rooms. The captain doesn’t think it’s gonna sink but people are rite freaking, so we’ve got to play to calm 'em.”

“Oh okay.” Eddy stated, too sleepy to panic. 

Brett said a silent prayer as they made their way to the first class lounge. 

There, they were met with the rest of the band along with chaos. Women crying, men shouting to know what’s going on. 

They started playing.

They played a calming tune and it seemed to work. People sat down and listened. 

But by the time they finished Schubert's tenth string quartet, the first distress signal was sent. 

Everyone began to race towards the deck. 

“Do we follow them?” Theodore spoke up.  
“Yes, yes, we must!” Replied Wallace. 

So they did.

They followed everyone to the deck and they continued to play.   
They played as the first lifeboat was being lowered.   
They played when the captain called every man for himself.  
They played when 4 members of the band abandoned them.   
They played when the lights went off.   
They played until they felt their shoes become wet. 

That is when they ran from the middle of the deck to the very top of the ship's stern.   
They continued to play.   
As they felt the bow rip away they knew their fate.   
The unsinkable was sinking.   
Eddy looked over to Brett and nodded.   
Brett nodded back.   
It was as if to say “I love you, be brave.” 

As the stern grew steeper, Eddy began to play Vivaldi’s “Autumn” ; it was Brett’s favorite piece.  
At the same time, Brett began to play “Nearer My God to Thee.” It was Eddy’s favorite song. 

They played until they felt cold.   
Then they played no more  
At 2:20 in the morning the RMS Titanic’s stern completely filled with water and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic.   
All that was left of the once excited couple were their violins.  
Floating in the cold Atlantic ocean, strings full of ice. 

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> lol that was kinda trash sorry. lol @ me chickening out of writing the smut. Anyway I watched like 3 documentaries on the titanic and the idea ab this fic wouldn't leave me until I wrote it haha (I legit have a paper due in 2 days but spent today writing this and that's on adhd) BTW Feel free to imagine it being better in your heads!


End file.
